Apple's TV commercial depicting Santa Claus interacting with Siri on his iPhone 4S was named the most effective ad of the 2011 holiday season, and topped 34 other Santa-themed spots.

According to viewer reactions measured by TV ad analysis firm Ace Metrix and released on Friday, Apple's commercial collected enough points to be named the most effective ad during the crucial holiday season, beating out advertising veterans like Coca-Cola, Pillsbury and Nintendo, reports GigaOM.

The Santa Siri ad garnered 652 out of a possible 950 points, eight percent higher than other tech brands, from a group of randomly selected viewers who rated selected commercials by relevance, persuasion, watchability, information and other metrics. Ace Metrix says the reviewers are "representative of the U.S. TV viewing audience."

Its cute and funny, Ace Metrix CEO Peter Daboll said of the iPhone maker's TV spot.

In general, companies that used Santa in their commercials performed above other ads in their repsective categories, proving Ace Metrix's point that "Santa sells." Old St. Nick was the star of at least 35 ads this holiday season.

Best Buy took away top honors for most effective campaign with its "Game On, Santa" series, which featured passive-aggressive moms outdoing the Jolly Red Elf by shopping at the big-box electronics store.

Apple's ad shows Santa interacting with the iPhone 4S, tasking Siri with a number of actions that show off the feature albeit with a tad of whimsy. A message from Mrs. Claus tells him to "go easy on the cookies," and the ad finishes with a humorous interpretation of Santa's upcoming schedule.

In usual Apple fashion the ad highlights the product first and foremost, though the introduction of Siri has made the company's traditionally wordless commercials more about interacting with the device instead of merely highlighting its physical attributes.

Since the iPod campaign, Apple's ads for its mobile devices have been fast-paced music video-like spots that mostly feature music by independent bands. However, Siri has offered a new opportunity to create commercials that are stark contrasts of previous iDevice ads, just as the company hopes Siri will set its products apart from the competition.

That was a good commercial and I had a laugh at the end. Apple has the lead and the competition is once again scrambling.

The thing about Apple is if they are behind in areas (i.e. screen size and 4G) they don't either educate why they are (new antennas give 4G like performance) or they don't address the concerns (the screen size issue).

Siri is a definite differentiator and it'll take others a few years to catch-up. By then Siri will be on all iDevices and out for the Mac too. It might not appear useful on the Mac but if it can replace your search engine (Google or Bing). It would be odd if they wait too long to bring it to the Mac. I hope we don't have to wait for another iteration of OSX (Red Lion) for it.

That was a good commercial and I had a laugh at the end. Apple has the lead and the competition is once again scrambling.

The thing about Apple is if they are behind in areas (i.e. screen size and 4G) they don't either educate why they are (new antennas give 4G like performance) or they don't address the concerns (the screen size issue).

Siri is a definite differentiator and it'll take others a few years to catch-up. By then Siri will be on all iDevices and out for the Mac too. It might not appear useful on the Mac but if it can replace your search engine (Google or Bing). It would be odd if they wait too long to bring it to the Mac. I hope we don't have to wait for another iteration of OSX (Red Lion) for it.

Just because they don't have 5.3 inch screens, and lte their behind? They did adress it, years of research are the reasons.

Really?? I don't want to be a hater, but I think having Santa in an Apple ad is predictable, cheap and unimaginative. Apple is playing at Best Buy's level now. The first time I saw it I thought (and hoped) that it was an independent ad from one of their carriers, and was disappointed to see the sign-off with the Apple logo.

Really?? I don't want to be a hater, but I think having Santa in an Apple ad is predictable, cheap and unimaginative. Apple is playing at Best Buy's level now. The first time I saw it I thought (and hoped) that it was an independent ad from one of their carriers, and was disappointed to see the sign-off with the Apple logo.

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I couldn't agree more. This was a very mainstream ad that is nowhere near Apple's standards in previous years. It's not a bad commercial in the overall realm of commercials, it just doesn't have the "Apple" coolness that they have achieved so consistently over the years.

Does anyone really think Steve Jobs would have approved that commercial? I was hoping that would remain the test at Apple at least for awhile.

I couldn't agree more. This was a very mainstream ad that is nowhere near Apple's standards in previous years. It's not a bad commercial in the overall realm of commercials, it just doesn't have the "Apple" coolness that they have achieved so consistently over the years.

Does anyone really think Steve Jobs would have approved that commercial? I was hoping that would remain the test at Apple at least for awhile.

Thank you! I agree, it's not a bad ad, but "not bad" isn't the Apple reference standard. I also originally with-held a comment that i didn't think that it would have been aired with a Steve Jobs oversight.

Those are 4.3" phones. Apparently people like the larger screen size. I'd like the choice of having a larger screen as well but Apple feels one size fits all. If they truly believed that then they should only sell one model of MacBook.

Which doesn't seem to have any affect on their sales or customer desirability.

Except when they do.

"4G-like" isn't Apple's style.

How is that in any way a "concern"? I'd be concerned if they made a larger iPhone. There's no sense in it and I'd never buy one.

4G-like is Apple's style. In the keynote they compared the iPhones speed to speeds of 4G except it isn't 4G.

You would be in a small camp then in regards to the screen size. Many current iPhone users I know would have liked the choice in getting one with a larger screen. The still opted for it despite that as the other features were compelling enough. Many had been Android owners that switch from larger phones because the company they worked for didn't support Android on their network. It is a concern simply because people, including myself, would like a larger screen - that's important to us hence the concern that isn't addressed. The iPhone is selling because of Siri otherwise it would be a ho-hum offering.

4G-like is Apple's style. In the keynote they compared the iPhones speed to speeds of 4G except it isn't 4G.

You would be in a small camp then in regards to the screen size. Many current iPhone users I know would have liked the choice in getting one with a larger screen. The still opted for it despite that as the other features were compelling enough. Many had been Android owners that switch from larger phones because the company they worked for didn't support Android on their network. It is a concern simply because people, including myself, would like a larger screen - that's important to us hence the concern that isn't addressed. The iPhone is selling because of Siri otherwise it would be a ho-hum offering.

I'm sure there wouldn't be one person upset if apple took their current shape and look, and gently pushed out only the screen to make it 3.7" or 3.8". But everyone assumes when people say "larger screen", they mean some 5" mammoth.

It works exactly like it is shown in advertisements. If it's a different language with which you're having trouble, they're not all supported right now.

English. It takes several attempts to actually understand what is said. I know it gets better with practice but in it's current form it is poor (even though it is the best voice recognition I have seen). Also it is much less useful anyway when there is no area support. I'm hoping the full release version is not too far away and works a bit better. The phone is great and I would not have a different one but I actually prefer the shape and feel of the 3Gs I had before. The 4/4s are like a bar of soap in the bath. They just want to jump out of your hand. I have already repaired two of them for friends.

As for the larger screen, I think something a little larger would still be perfectly pocket sized but it does the job. An iPad mini at 7" would fill the gap for those needing something larger.

I couldn't agree more. This was a very mainstream ad that is nowhere near Apple's standards in previous years. It's not a bad commercial in the overall realm of commercials, it just doesn't have the "Apple" coolness that they have achieved so consistently over the years.

Does anyone really think Steve Jobs would have approved that commercial? I was hoping that would remain the test at Apple at least for awhile.

Quote:

Originally Posted by e4l

Thank you! I agree, it's not a bad ad, but "not bad" isn't the Apple reference standard. I also originally with-held a comment that i didn't think that it would have been aired with a Steve Jobs oversight.
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I think SJ would have approved, and maybe even did, given the length of time it can take to get an ad produced.

It is not your ordinary Santa ad, because it's profoundly subversive of the "myth." The punch line highlights the cognitive problem: 3.7 billion. Even kids will get the joke. Categorial left-brainers will not get it. Sorry guys. Try some medicinal cookies, you know the kind . . .

I think SJ would have approved, and maybe even did, given the length of time it can take to get an ad produced.

It is not your ordinary Santa ad, because it's profoundly subversive of the "myth." The punch line highlights the cognitive problem: 3.7 billion. Even kids will get the joke. Categorial left-brainers will not get it. Sorry guys. Try some medicinal cookies, you know the kind . . .

I'm curious about the 3.7 billion number. Is that Christians? Or kids? Or good kids? Or kids he hasn't visited yet? Yeah my left brain is overdeveloped in some aspects.

Interestingly, there may be only about 2.5 billion Christians (Protestant + Cathloci) in the world. Could it be, God, like Santa, loves us all? :-o That organised religion is not very useful anymore, but instead spirituality from within? :-o

Oh my God, I totally agree. Yay for the commercial. But seriously... let's not go overboard. They haven't sold rolled out iSoul yet, so for the time being, you'll have to maintain your own.

Also—Whoa to the people who are replaying the thing over and over again—Why don't we all pretend our living room is an Apple Store, that we're employees and that we're all living in a dream world?

Merry Christmas, all. Do something that has nothing to do with Apple for a couple minutes tomorrow.

Heh. When I worked for an Apple reseller, unpacking the big brown boxes/palettes to reveal the official Apple-packaging boxes and putting them on the shelf or stacking them in the storeroom was like Christmas everyday. I won't forget the feeling. Thankfully my retail stint didn't last too long because that was killer (not in a good way) but the unpacking whenever new stock came... One of the best parts of that job. Knowing it will go to (well, for the most part) good homes, rather than filling mine... Slowly became more satisfactory and eventually I got the Mac and iPod bug out of my system. I use a Mac for work, as needed. A simple MacBook Pro 13" 2.4ghz Core2Duo, Nvidia 9400M. Just got an ACD 20" Aluminium second-hand, man that is the best monitor design Apple has ever come out with. And it's *drumroll* matte, of course. And my iPod mini 4GB still works as a thumbdrive for the car radio USB reader.

However, I've been getting every iPhone and iPad model that has come out since iPhone 3G. Haven't "cured" that part of me yet.

I have regular free-to-air standard-def TV with no DVR where I am now. I call it, the "Poor man's BitTorrent". Think about it. That's basically what free-to-air or even lower-grade cable TV is. Without a DVR, you put it on, and just flick through and watch what you're forced to. It's "streaming video"... of the most elementary kind.

At least where I am it's digital TV, ie. about 480p/576i without too much compression so the quality is passable.

The screen is decent, Sony 30" 1080p, works nice with my Xbox360. Couldn't be bothered getting cable HDTV + DVR etc. at this stage, gaming takes up enough time as it is.

Really?? I don't want to be a hater, but I think having Santa in an Apple ad is predictable, cheap and unimaginative. Apple is playing at Best Buy's level now. The first time I saw it I thought (and hoped) that it was an independent ad from one of their carriers, and was disappointed to see the sign-off with the Apple logo.

sm

I agree.

Having Christmas themed advertisements during Christmas is highly predictable.

Those are 4.3" phones. Apparently people like the larger screen size. I'd like the choice of having a larger screen as well but Apple feels one size fits all. If they truly believed that then they should only sell one model of MacBook.

Samsung outsells the iPhone in several markets...until you factor in other iOS devices.